parr
Pluralparrs, parr
- 1A young salmon at the stage between fry and smolt, when it feeds mainly on invertebrates and cannot tolerate salt water.
A parr holds its spot in the current, darting out to snap up passing insect larvae.
Biologists counted parr along each stretch of the river to judge how well the spawning season had gone.
Note
The name is a picture of the fish: it goes back to Middle English parren, "to enclose", because the dark spots along a young salmon's flank look like the bars of a fence. Like many fish names, it can stay the same in the plural, as in a pool full of parr, though parrs is used as well.
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Origin
For the salmon life stage, the word comes from Middle English parren ("to enclose"), referring to the spots along the fish's side, which resemble the bars of a fence. Compare Scottish Gaelic bradan ("salmon").